Resilient frame seat



July 2, 1935. F. J. TRAINOR RESILIENT FRAME SEAT Filed March 8, 1935 AZZorqegs.

[flue/760K lie/ml 772mm."

Patented July 2, 1935 RESILIENT FRAME SEAT Felix J. Trainer, Newcastle, Ind assignor to Trainor National Spring Company, Newcastle, Ind., a corporation of Indiana Application March 8, 1935, Serial No. 9,957 2 Claims. (Cl. 1551- -50) This invention relates to the art of furniture and particularly to a chair or bench having a resilient supporting structure. It is an important object of my invention to provide a seat structure which will normally be somewhat rigid and yetprovide a certain degree of resilience-for comfort to the occupant without the necessity of hav-. ing to employ spring upholstery or the like A further important object of my invention is to provide-an extremely durable structure, light in weight and which will permit a certain limited amount of yielding under load. These and other objects and advantages of my invention will become apparent to those versed in the art in the following description, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, in which Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a chair embodying my invention;

Fig. 2, a front elevation, and

Fig. 3, a top planview.

Like characters of reference indicate like parts throughout the several views in the drawing.

I form a pair of end supports each made of spring steel to have a central upwardly bowed portion ID with a forward end curved around upwardly and rearwardly to form the bendII, the under side of which forms a floor contacting member. From the bend ll,'the steel is carried rearwardly and upwardly in a long sweeping curve I2 to form in effect a forward leg. The upper end of this portion or leg I2 is curved around upwardly and rearwardly and is attached to a seat supporting bar I3, the upper curve on the leg I2 being designated by the numeral I l.

Likewise from the rear end of the bowed portion I0, the steel is carried around upwardly and rearwardly to form the bend I5, the under side of which forms a rear floor contacting member. From the bend I5, the steel is carried aroundforwardly and upwardly and thence somewhat rearwardly to form a long bend I6 being in effect a rear leg. From the upperend of this leg portion IS, the steel is bent around upwardly and forwardly under the rear end of the bar I3 and there attached, all as indicated in Fig. l. The bar I3 is preferably formed to bow downwardly through its central portion and thence upwardly and around downwardly by its front end to give the usual seat conformation.

A back support bar I'I extends upwardly from an attachment with the upper end of the leg I6 at its top curve and tie bars I8 and I9 extend across near the lower and upper ends of these support bars IT. A suitable back rest is carried by these bars I8 and I9, here shown as comprising a plurality of vertically disposed slats 2U. The supports H are made of spring steel to be somewhat flexible; An arm rest 2| is provided on each side and is secured by its rear-end-to the support mem ber H by a suitable bracket 22 extending from 5 under the rest 2| and around onto the support H.

'The forward end of the rest 2| is supported by means of a bar23 extending from under the rest downwardly and around over the bar I3 to be engaged therewith.

Now when the chair has an occupant,'the load imposed will cause the structure to assume some such position as indicated by the dash lines in Fig. 1. By reasonof the resiliency of the supporting structurathe curves I2 and I6 will tend to increase their curvature under load travelling toward each other, thus lowering the seat supporting bars I3 somewhat, although when the occupant leans back against the back rest, to carryit rearwardly, the curve I6 may tend to assume a greater degree of curvature than the curve I2. The upwardly bowed interconnecting portions Ill also are flexed to have the rear portion thereof tended to be carried upwardly while the forward portion tends to travel downwardly 25 as indicated by the dash lines. These bowed portions In contribute quite a bit through their elasticity to the desirable characteristics of the seat in that it tends to cooperate in a desirable man ner with the flexing of the curves I2 and I6 and at the same time also tends to resist undesired flexing of those members. As indicated in the drawing, theseat supporting members I3 carrya suitable seat structure, here shown as a plurality of cross slats 24. 1

Preferably I employ a tie bar 25 secured by its ends between the, central partsof the upwardly V bowed portions l0.

While I have herein shown and described my invention in the one best form as now known to me, it is obvious that structural changes may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention, and I, therefore, do not desire to be limited to that precise form beyond the limita- V tions that may be imposed by the following claims. 45

I claim:

1. A spring base seat comprising a pair of side members, each having a resilient base bar with a central upwardly bowed portion between floor contacting ends; a resilient front leg extending 50 bars; and arm rests extending forwardly from said back rest bars above said connecting bars;

and having a member extending downwardly from near the forward ends of the arm rests to engage said connecting bars near thefront leg-upper U -bends.

2. A spring base seat comprising a pair of side? members, each having a resilient base bar with a central upwardly bowed portion between floor contacting ends; a resilient front leg extending from the front end of the base bar forwardly, up

wardly and around rear-wardly to form a U-shaped bend-1 andthence upwardly rearwardly and;

around forwardly with a sweep forming a major rearwardly bowed length, and finally at the top curving around rearwardly in a U-bend, a resilient rear leg extending from the rear end of said base bar'around upwardly and forwardly in a U-bend and thence upwardly, forwardly and around rearwardly forming a forwardly bowed 7 major length and finally around forwardly in a U-bend; a connecting bar between said: top leg u bends; a seat carried on-sai'dconnectingbars; a back rest carrying bar fixed on each side member-by a lower end at the upper U-bend of the rear legs; a back rest carried between the back rest bars; and arm rests extending forwardly from 'saidback rest bars above said connecting bars and having a member extending downwardly fromnear the forward'ends of the arm rests to engage said connecting bars near the front leg upper U-bends, said U-bends at the upper ends of both front and rear legs being spaced rearwardly-andv forwardly respectively of the :U -bends' in the lower endsof those legs.- 

